The medical and dental practice often require that both hard and soft tissue be removed in the treatment of a patient. The removal of damaged tissue or scar tissue is often necessary in order to prevent further deterioration of an organ. For example, in the treatment of periodontal diseases, such as pyorrhea, the removal of granulated tissue is necessary in order to arrest further deterioration of both the hard and soft tissues.
The current practice in removing the granulation or scar tissue adjacent a tooth is with the use of a curette. By continually scraping the granulation tissue with the curette, the sinewy tissue fibers are disconnected and removed. Generally, the tissue is scraped by a curette and then suctioned by other equipment to remove the tissue fragments. In some instances, the suction instrument and the curette scraping operation is conducted simultaneously.
The removal of the granulation tissue by a curette is a time-consuming and tedious process, often taking 5-8 minutes per tooth. Depending upon the number of teeth which are afflicted, it can be appreciated that the entire process can be stressful, both for the patient as well as the surgeon.
Especially adapted for use in the endodontic area is an instrument having a boring bit which can bore into the root of a tooth, and which includes a fluid tube capable of concurrent spraying the tooth and suctioning excess fluids. Such an instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,216. However, the boring bit of such instrument protrudes substantially therefrom and is thus not well adapted for the selective removal of soft tissue.
On other occasions, both healthy and damaged tissue are required to be removed during other types of medical operations. Attendant with many such operations is the flow of body fluids which can obscure and frustrate the removal of tissue. In such cases, a suction device is employed at the same time as the instrument for removing tissue so that the surgeon can observe the area of interest. Again, the use of multiple instruments in the area of the operation, especially if the area is small, is counterproductive.
In both the medical and dental areas of practice, the tissue to be removed is often in a small or very inaccessible location. This is especially true in periodontic operations where the granulation tissue is recessed far below the gingival line, near the root of the tooth. In this instance, it becomes extremely difficult to cut the granulation tissue and remove it.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for an instrument which can cut tissue and remove it in a more expedient manner than heretofore known. A further need exists for a tissue removing instrument which is effective to cut and remove tissue in narrow or tight places. Yet another need exists for a tissue removing instrument which grinds or cuts the tissue in extremely small bits, and removes the tissue bits, via suction, to a remote collection unit.